'WE'RE TIRED! KENYANS REJECT IMF-BACKED FINANCE BILL

Kenyans angry at punitive taxes in the country’s proposed budget took to the streets in the capital, Nairobi, to protest against a parliamentary vote on the Finance Bill. Legislators bowed to pressure by scrapping increased levies on mobile money transfers, motor vehicles and plastic packaging, but citizens say the IMF-compliant budget should be rejected in its totality. A massive borrowing spree has seen Kenya’s external debt shoot to $45.5 billion. The country will spend over a third of its revenues on service debt, leaving little to pay salaries and run development programmes. President William Ruto is getting plenty of stick for his numerous foreign trips, costing taxpayers $38 million in less than two years. And the ‘Flying President’ has broken a campaign promise to boost learning by funding a school-feeding programme, removing $37 million slated for it. It’s all too much for citizens enduring a cost-of-living crisis. Their message to the ‘Tourist-in-Chief’ is simple: We are tired.